What Else Happened
by sunshine.gambler
Summary: What led up to Arthur and Ariadne's kiss?  This kind of magnifies what happened in Inception between the two of them. I apologize for the title; suggestions for the title that would seem to fit the story would be much appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

I absolutely loved Arthur and Ariadne's scene together (where they kiss). What began to irk me was how it wasn't hinted anywhere else in the movie that Arthur might make a sly move like that. So I figure I'd magnify the tiny moments that might have led up to the kiss.

The dialogue from the movie has been edited a bit.

Suggestions for a different title that would seem to fit the story the best would be much appreciated.

First story on here, be gentle, maybe?

Cheers to a short first chapter(:

R&R would be much appreciated.

Have a great day,

Sunshine

_Inception does not belong to me in any way, shape, or form._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

Ariadne had been on campus for a good amount of time to know the area like the back of her hand. She knew which stores were good and bad, which alleyways to avoid, and what routes were best to take on days of traffic. Yes, she knew the area well. Yet, this was the first time she'd seen or heard of this warehouse that her new employer, Domonic Cobb, had just introduced her to.

"This is the place we'll be working," Cobb said, closing the door behind her. The inside of the warehouse looked old and torn, with cheap furniture neatly arranged around the room. Ariadne also couldn't help but notice the scant amount of technology that was set on all the plastic tables.

"So, this is our new architect?" Said a new voice. Ariadne turned her attention to the source of the voice. Quietly unlocking a silver, sleek brief case stood a tall, lean man whose hair was gelled back and wore a three piece suit. _A three piece suit in a warehouse? _Ariadne thought. _Not exactly the most appropriate place to wear some fancy suit. _But then again, who was she to talk about what to wear to certain destinations? She didn't exactly keep up to date on the fashion trends.

"Ariadne, this is Arthur," Cobb said, nodding to the guy. "Our point man."

"Hi," Ariadne said, carefully taking in the guy's-Arthur's appearance.

"Welcome to the team," Arthur said, nodding to Ariadne. "Were you thinking five minutes, Cobb?"

"Sure," Cobb said as he began towards another area in the warehouse. "Just take a seat on one of the…" his eyes carefully drifted to the cheap chairs, a hint of disapproval playing across them. "lawn chairs." He looked at Arthur, seeming to question their new furniture choice.

"They were the only things that were in here when I unlocked the place," Arthur said, beginning to unwrap multiple, thin tubes.

"They look comfy," Ariadne remarked, slinging her red sweater over one of the arms of the chairs.

"They'll suffice," Arthur said. "Five minutes," he muttered, seeming to click a pad in the silver case.

"Five minutes? For what?" Ariadne asked, taking a better look at the warehouse. Her gaze landed on Arthur, beginning to analyze, something she felt important to do since she had just met these men and had just been randomly employed.

She had to admit, she wasn't so sure of her accepting of the job yet. Here she was, suddenly working for a man that looked to be in his 30s, whose decision to employ her seemed to rest on whether or not she could make a complex maze under a certain amount of time. It wasn't that she was scared of Cobb, not at all. If Proffesor Miles had known him and introduced her to him, she was sure he was a good man. Domonic Cobb had kind features, but serious expressions. When he had first talked to her about the job and made her do the maze, Ariadne could feel a sense of importance in this job. She could feel how serious he was and how determined he was to get this job-whatever it was-done.

Ariadne could feel the same determination radiating from Arthur. He looked to be a couple of years younger than Cobb, maybe somewhere in his late 20s or early 30s. His facial features calm and focused on whatever task he had at hand. As he walked towards Cobb to mutter something in his ear, she took notice of how he had a certain swagger to his step. His three piece suit made him look incredibly proffesional, his style disctinctly different than that of Cobb's. And yes, she had to admit it; Arthur the point man was an attractive man.

"For the PASIV," Arthur explained, tapping the sleek, silver brief case. "It's a machine that injects chemicals into your body that will make you go under- to sleep. Its what we use on the subjects and ourselves when we begin the shared dream."

"The what?" Ariadne asked, slowly soaking in his explanation.

Ariadne watched as she saw a corner of Arthur's mouth turn upwards. She couldn't help but feel that she had just questioned something incredibly juvenile to Arthur. As Cobb walked back to them, Arthur said "Just lie down." He nodded towards the lawn chair.

Ariadne took a careful seat on the chair, careful to not get too relaxed, as she was still unsure of what she was doing. "Is that a needle?" She asked Arthur, a glint of light bounced from the skinny item that he held in his hand to her eyes.

"Yeah," Arthur nodded. "I hope you're okay with needles."

"I'm fine with needles," she said, still eyeing the point.

"You'll be fine. It won't hurt you at all," Arthur said, squatting next to her, needle in hand. Still unsure, Ariande glanced at Cobb who sat easily in the lawn chair next to her. She watched him roll up one sleeve, easily slipping the needle in his skin. She looked back at Arthur who had taken her wrist, holding it steady as he slipped it beneath her skin. Glancing at him, she noticed his chocolate colored eyes that seemed to momentarily look back at her.

She mentally scolded herself. She was in a new business environment about to enter this foreign world that seemed impossible to reach, yet, to these men, it seemed like venturing into this world was all but routine to them. In short, Ariadne decided, this was no place to check out the attractive point man. "Just lie back," Arthur said as he pushed a button in the middle of the PASIV, her vision of him beginning to blur out into black.

* * *

><p>Ariadne sat up gasping for air, trying to make sure that her stomach was still intact, and that there wasn't a large kitchen knife piercing its layers. She felt adrenaline rushing through her veins, and a million things rushing to her brain all at once, wanting to be made sense of.<p>

"Hey, hey. Look at me, look at me," she heard as a smooth hand rested on her wrist. In attempt, her eyes fluttered open, deciding to keep them closed as she felt as if the room had begun to spin a little. "You're okay."

"Why, why wouldn't I wake up?" She said, putting a hand to her forehead in an attempt to stop the room from spinning. She rapidly tried to shake the feeling of a knife piercing her stomach.

"There was still time on the clock. You can't wake up from a dream unless the time runs out, or, in your case; you die," the voice, which Ariadne guessed to be Arthur, explained. She opened her eyes to find Arthur looking at her. But this time, she took no notice of his chocolate eyes; Instead she turned her vision to find Cobb, striding to a different room.

"She needs a totem," Cobb explained, back turned.

"A what?" Ariande asked, exasperated.

"A totem, it's a small, personal item that-"

"That's some subconscious you've, Cobb," Ariande yelled, interrupting Arthur's explanation. "She's a charmer." She watched as Cobb retreated to a different room.

"Ah, I see you've met Mrs. Cobb," she heard Arthur say, as if he had suddenly understood what had gone on in the dream. She turned to the man who was still squatting on the ground next to her, one hand on the lawn chair for balance.

"She's his wife?" She said, surprised. Why would his wife want to kill her?

"Yeah," he said.

Ariande couldn't help but notice how calm this point man was reacting. While Cobb was in the other room doing who knows what, here sat Arthur, thoroughly in control of whatever was going on despite the fact that he hadn't been anywhere in the dream at all. Sure, she could see flickers of confusion flicker across his face, but it when he heard that Mrs. Cobb had been in the dream, the confusion went just as fast as it had come.

"Anyway," he said, pursuing a different subject. "A totem; you need a small object. Something you can have on you at all time, that no one else knows."

"Like a coin?" she said, trying to process the new term, holding her forehead.

"No, it needs to be more unique," he said bluntly. "Like this is a loaded die." She watched as he pulled out a red die with white dots. Ariadne processed this, beginning to reach for the die when Arthur suddenly enclosed it with a fist.

"Well, I can't let you touch it. That would defeat its purpose," he explained. "See, only I know the balance and the weight of this loaded die."

Ariadne began to feel her rapid heart slow down, the feeling of a large knife piercing her belly beginning to fade. As her eyes settled on Arthur, she let herself look back into his chocolate eyes. Oddly enough, she began to feel her pounding heart begin to slow down, as if she was adopting some of his composure.

"That way, when you look at your totem, you know beyond a doubt that you're not in anyone else's dream," Arthur continued, slipping the red die back in his pocket. His calmness somewhat bothered her. Did he just not hear her scream for her life? Did he not just see Cobb practically run to the other room?

"I don't know if you can't see what's going on, or if you just don't want to, but he has some serious issues that he's tried to bury down there," Ariadne warned, the words tumbling out of her mouth, like she had began to rant. The point man just sat there, listening to her words, his face neither twitching into looks of concern or fear. "And I'm not about to just '_open my mind_' to someone like that."

And with this, Ariande quickly strode towards the door, taking no notice of how her red sweater lightly ran into Arthur's face, the edges of his lips slightly twitching upwards. She didn't look behind one time as she slammed the door behind her, her head still spinning from what she had just gone through.

She turned the corner, marching down the street, trying to erase her memory of the dream she had just entered. She tried to forget the boost of power she felt as she was given control of creation. She tried to forget how easy it was to create something in her mind, and see it resurrect itself within Cobb's subconscious. She tried to forget how the buildings and bridges just seemed to pop up by themselves without any kind of large effort going into the mechanics of the actual building process. Yes, she tried to forget. And Ariadne had to admit it, she couldn't shake the desire to walk back to the warehouse and begin to create again. And possibly see the point man again.

Ariadne scolded herself as she forced herself to keep walking down the street.


	2. Chapter 2

The reviews and titles suggestions were much appreciated!

Just as a heads up, I might not update for awhile due to my traveling in the next few days. So if there's a long gap between this chapter and the next, you can expect that I'll be on a plane!

Have a great day,

Sunshine

_Inception does not belong to me in any way, shape, or form._

**Chapter Two **

Ariadne looked up at the clock of her lecture hall, a look of disapproval forming across her face. _There's still half an hour left? _She thought to herself, quietly sighing and turning to look out the window next to her.

It was a beautiful day outside. There were a few clouds running across the deep, blue sky and the swaying of light tree branches meant that there was a light breeze. Ariadne loved these kinds of days.

She had no doubt in her mind that she was frustrated with herself. She had not been able to shake off the desire to go back to the warehouse and dream again. No matter how hard she tried to forget, no matter how hard she tried to distract herself with the piles of homework that formed on her desk, Ariadne would always find herself drifting back to the warehouse where she had entered a world in which she created stores, streets, and bridges, and also met a handsome point man.

That was another thing that Ariadne found herself drifting to, as well as scolding herself about: Arthur. She couldn't get over how he had kept such calm composure in a time where her thoughts had been spiraling anywhere and everywhere. 'You're okay,' he had said, his voice cool and full of reassurance. Looking back on it, she found it hard to believe that she hadn't listened and believed him the first time he said it.

The fact that she had stormed out due to her (to put it lightly) rude introduction to Cobb's subconscious was now only a fading reason as to why she shouldn't go back. It was dangerous and risky, Ariadne figured that much. But what was life without taking any risks, right?

"Ariadne," she heard Miles say, interrupting her train of thought. Lifting her gaze from the scenery outside the window, Ariadne suddenly took notice of how the room had just been emptied of students, excluding her.

"Yes?" she responded.

"You seem to be a bit distracted," her professor said, as he seemed to gather a few papers that were scattered across his desk.

"Um, y-yes, just a little," Ariadne responded, flustered as she stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Sorry, professor."

"Come here one second, please," Miles said, gesturing her over to his desk.

Ariadne stepped down to his desk, unsure as to what he might say. The British man had a thick accent, but she had grown used to it throughout the year. He was a kind man, whose passion for architecture shone when he taught. Ariadne could always see the light in his eyes and slight glee that was reflected when one of his students suddenly understood something that they had been having trouble comprehending for a long amount of time-an "Ah-ha" moment, as he called it.

He looked up at her with his kind blue eyes, the aged English man seeming to radiate with wisdom. You just couldn't help but respect him. "I know that dreaming is a handful at first, and that what Dom has given you is a large responsibility," Miles began, his voice noticeably softer. He had assumed that she had taken the job.

"And I understand that you now have the ability to create buildings, pieces of architecture that you are the sole creator of. I get that this is any architect's dream. But I don't want this job to take over your schoolwork. I don't want this job to get in the way of your very bright future. Do you understand?" Miles looked at her with concern.

"Yes, I do," Ariadne, responded. "Thank you, Professor."

"Anytime. And try your best to not get distracted in my class again," he smiled.

Ariadne smiled and nodded "Yes, sir." And with that, she turned, and exited the room.

* * *

><p>Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Ariadne stood outside the building of her classrooms, not knowing what to do next. Around her cars sped past, and people strode. The trees danced with the slight breeze that ran through the air, and the flowers surrounding them were being delicately cared for by their gardeners-petite men with sunburn made evident on the bridges of their noses. Everyone and everything was moving-their lives were moving. Yet here sat Ariadne, feeling as if she had been put on pause, watching everything move in a blur.<p>

To her left would be the way back to her dorm. To her right sat the way to the warehouse. She heard the words of her professor play themselves over in her mind._ I understand that you now have the ability to create buildings, pieces of architecture that you are the sole creator of. I get that this is any architect's dream._ Any architect's dream. _Her_ dream. Was she just going to walk away from it?

Biting her lip, Ariadne found herself turning on her heel, and beginning to walk down the sidewalk.

* * *

><p>Minutes later, Ariadne found herself quietly opening the door the warehouse. She surprised on the way there, as she had not gotten lost once, and she had remembered where the building had been. The door had already been unlocked when she approached the building. '<em>You'd think that with something illegal like this, they'd at least have the sense to keep a door locked' <em>she thought.

She slipped in to the warehouse to find a man intently working on something on his desk. She stopped in her tracks, not really knowing what to say. _'What am I supposed to say?' _she thought. '_Hey, I know I said this stuff was crazy, but I'm back anyway!' _ She didn't want to make a fool of herself.

Taking a closer look, she found the man to be Arthur. She couldn't help but feel a tinge of happiness flood into her system; of which could be credited to her being back in the warehouse, and seeing Arthur-seeing Arthur contributing to the feeling more than Ariadne would like to admit.

Arthur was in another three-piece suit again, his hair still gelled back, and looking just as professional as he had looked last time. Ariadne could tell he was thoroughly concentrating on whatever he was doing because of the silence in the building. The silence was almost deafening, and she didn't want to break it.

Taking a few more steps, Ariadne coughed. She knew it wasn't the smoothest entrance, but it was the most noise she could bring herself to make. Interrupting the silence would be interrupting Arthur's intense thinking, and the last thing she'd want him to think of her was a bother.

Turning to face her, she saw a small smirk play across Arthur's lips as he stood. "Cobb said you'd be back," he said, placing his hands in his pockets. Ariadne liked to believe that a smile was what had come across his face, but considering his words, she decided that he had worn a smirk rather than a smile.

"I really tried not to come," Ariadne shrugged, taking a few steps, as if admitting a large confession.

"But there's just nothing quite like it," Arthur nodded, his lips twitching upwards, seeming to understand her predicament. This, Ariadne was sure, was a grin.

"Its just…" Ariadne said, scanning her mind for the right way to say her opinion. "Pure creation." She looked at Arthur, seeing a solid smile play across his features. Sharing one look at each other, Ariadne sensed that he understood her perfectly, and she gave him a smile.

She could feel the couple seconds tick by as she dropped her gaze, beginning to lose her composure to her nerves. She could swear that she had heard a quiet chuckle beneath Arthur's breath.

"So, shall we look at paradoxical architecture?" Arthur said, turning his back to the silver suitcase that was sitting on his desk.

Ariadne stood there, unsure. Had she just interrupted something important in his work? "I mean, if you're doing something important, I could just wait for Cobb to come back."

"You weren't interrupting anything," he said. "And considering that Cobb is in Mombasa right now, he won't be back for days," Arthur explained, beginning to pull out the multiple tubes that Ariadne had seen him sort out the last time she had been there.

"Okay then," Ariadne said, taking a seat on one of the lawn chairs.

"Would you rather wait for Cobb?" he asked, an eyebrow slightly arched, his question blunt.

"N-no," she stammered. "I just figured that I'd interrupted your work."

Again, she saw a small grin creep across his face. "Its fine, I don't mind helping out," he said as he handed her a needle.

Slipping the needle under her skin, she watched as he took a seat next to her. In an instant, Ariadne picked up the light scent of men's cologne that wafted around her. She lied back, approving the scent. Arthur then clicked in a certain amount of time on the pad in the sleek suitcase, slipped the needle under his skin, and pressed the button.

* * *

><p>People in business suits surrounded Ariadne everywhere she looked. With this in mind, she didn't find it hard to believe that she was in Arthur's dream. They were in a corporate building, standing on a series of staircases while workers strode past her. A few seconds later, she found Arthur standing by her side, his cologne still wafting around her. <em>'Focus'<em> she thought to herself.

"Come on," Arthur said, beginning to climb the first staircase.

"In a dream, you can cheat architecture into impossible shapes," he began. Walking beside him, Ariadne found it extremely difficult to maintain any sort of focus. She could feel his eyes look straight ahead, busy explaining the new concept, yet every now and then, she could see his occasional glances from the corners of her eyes, as if to make sure she was following along. Which, physically, she was-she climbed the steps, making sure to keep instep with him. Mentally, however, she found herself having a harder battle to fight, making sure to only allow herself occasional glances so as to not give off the notion that she was staring, despite the fact that she wanted to. He was back in his three-piece suit, she noticed.

"Excuse me," he said as they passed a woman in a dress suit who had just dropped her papers onto the floor.

"Like the Penrose Steps," he said, Ariadne suddenly taking notice of the famous staircase they had climbed. "The infinite stair case."

Turning a few corners, Ariadne found herself stepping around the same woman in the dress suit once again. _'Wait…'_ she thought, a tad bit amazed and a tad bit confused, turning her head to look at the woman as she kept on walking.

"Watch out," Arthur murmured, coming to a stop and holding one arm out across Ariadne. She stopped, her mouth opening in disbelief as she found the ending of the staircase being halted by an open gap. "See? Paradox."

She peered down, seeing the long drop from the end of the step as Arthur turned and began down the staircase.

"Do you get everything so far?" Arthur asked her as they landed on the main floor. "I know it can be a lot to digest." Glancing at him, his eyes briefly met hers, pools of chocolate calmly gazing at her. Feeling a small heart attack beginning in her chest, Ariadne tore her gaze and looked around the corporate building she was in, forcing herself to concentrate and mull over the concept Arthur had just explained to her about the paradoxical architecture.

"I get it," Ariadne nodded, allowing herself to look back at Arthur.

"Cobb was right, you do pick things up fast," he said, impressed.

Ariadne suppressed a grin, satisfied with herself. "So, how large to these levels have to be?"

"Anything from the floor of a building, to an entire city. But it has to be complicated enough for us to hide from the projections."

"So a maze."

"Right," he nodded. "And the better the maze-"

"The longer we have before the projects catch on and catch us."

"Right," Arthur nodded.

Ariadne turned her head and looked at the surrounding corporate people as their eyes began to drift to them with suspicious looks. "My subconscious seems polite enough," she said.

"Just you wait, it'll turn ugly," he chuckled. "No one wants to see someone else messing around with their head."

They continued to walk along the corporate floors in silence, Ariadne glancing at Arthur every now and then. She noticed how consumed he was in the dream. He'd been in this state so many times before, and yet here he was, in a simple shared dream, still peering at the building as if it were his first time dreaming.

"Cobb can't build anymore, can he?" Ariadne asked suddenly.

"I don't know if he can, but he won't. He thinks that it would be safer if he didn't know the layouts of the mazes."

"Why?"

Arthur was silent for a little while, as if considering multiple explanations that he could answer with. "He won't say. I think its Mal. I think she's getting stronger," he frowned.

"His ex-wife?"

Arthur stopped in his tracks. "He's not his ex."

"They're still together?"

Arthur turned to look at Ariadne, his voice quieter. "No. No, Ariadne, she's dead," he said gently. "What you see in there is just Cobb's projection of her."

This, Ariadne had to take time to digest. She felt like she had just touched a sensitive nerve of Cobb's, despite his not being there. "What was she like in real life?" She asked quietly.

"She was lovely."

* * *

><p>"So I just go ahead and start building, then?" Ariadne asked, as Arthur began packing up the tubes. She sat up in the lawn chair. She had decided to stay silent for the rest of the dream as Arthur finished his lesson. They hadn't seen much afterwards, as they explored the rest of the building, even talked to a few projections, but Ariadne didn't say much, just nodding and telling him she understood.<p>

"You can start tomorrow," Arthur said. "Take a break for today, make sure you have everything down. Make sure you're ready for when Cobb comes back, that's when we're going to establish what exact idea we're going to plant into Fischer's mind."

"That way I can fit the design of the levels with what we're trying to convey to Fischer on that level," she nodded. "Got it." She watched another impressed look creep across Arthur's features. "Why do you seem so impressed?"

Arthur shrugged. "I haven't seen anyone pick up everything so fast. You've managed to understand concepts that would have, regularly, taken a person a day or two to completely grasp within an hour or two."

"It seems easy enough. It's just too fascinating. It was torture when I kept myself from coming back."

A small grin escaped Arthur's lips. "You couldn't forget about it, no matter how hard you tried," he said, seeming to understand.

"Yeah, Professor Miles actually spoke to me this morning because I'd apparently been very distracted the past few days. He told me how I'd been given an architect's dream. I figured I'd be insane if I didn't come back and take it." She slid her legs over the edge of the chair, placing her elbows on her knees.

"Many architects would kill to be in your place."

Ariadne considered this. There were so many architects who would kill to be in her place; surely millions all over the world exist; yet she had been picked. "That is one thing I don't understand, though," she said, suddenly.

"What is?" Arthur said, looking down at her.

"Well, there are so many architects out of there. Surely there are a few that have done this plenty of times with loads of experience."

"True," he said matter-of-factly.

"If it's true, then why am I here? Why did Cobb pick me out of all the architects out there? I'm just a college student, and a week ago, I had never even heard of this kind of dreaming-I didn't even know this business existed," Ariadne's wondering words tumbled out of her mouth without stopping. "Why me?"

"Because we didn't need just _any _architect," Arthur said automatically. He stepped to the lawn chair across from her and sat down, looking directly at her. "We need a _good _architect, one who could handle this kind of project. Inception isn't something we do everyday. This business is just about stealing ideas, not planting them. Inception is something much harder, if not impossible."

"If it's so difficult, why'd I get picked?"

"Because you're good, talented," Arthur said. Looking at him, Ariadne met his gaze, seeing complete confidence in his words. "Professor Miles just isn't some architect professor at a college, Ariadne. He's Cobb's father in-law, and taught Cobb how to build and dream himself. Miles knows his stuff, and we, Cobb and I, trust his judgment. Cobb asked for his brightest and best, and Miles introduced you to us. He said you'd be just as good, if not better, than Cobb. And if that wasn't enough to convince people, you came in and picked everything up in a breeze."

Ariadne could feel her cheeks turning a deep shade of pink, looking down at her feet in embarrassment. She wasn't used to all the praise. She knew she was good, but Arthur was praising her like she was some sort of prodigy.

"What do you think?" Ariadne asked him, after gathering enough confidence to look back at Arthur again.

Arthur reached over and set his hand on her shoulder. "I think you'll do great, if not amazing," he said quietly, as Ariadne suddenly noticed how close they had become.

She smiled at him, and nodded, feeling her shoulder beginning to tingle from his touch. "I-I should get to my school work," she muttered, standing up.

"Alright," Arthur said, coolly, retracting his touch, and beginning towards his desk. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Ariadne nodded as she collected her bag and sweater, walking in a daze. "Bye," she said, closing the door to the warehouse behind her. She could still feel pink on her cheeks as she stepped out onto the sidewalk, once again surrounded by continuing life. Only this time, hers was moving along as well.


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry it took so long to update. _

_As always, thank you for the reviews.(: _

_Like I said earlier, I might be slow on updates due to my being on a trip. _

_I know that the character change in the middle is a little bit random… But I felt like it, so I kind of just inserted the different view point of Arthur._

_I see that the chapter is a little bit short... But I honestly just wanted to publish one just because there's been such a large amount of time since I last posted a chapter. _

_Have a great day, _

_Sunshine. _

**Chapter Three **

Ariadne's mind buzzed as she made her way to the warehouse the next day. She had spent all morning coming up with a few ideas as to what settings she would match with which level during her lectures; sure, it wasn't the best place to brainstorm, and she hear Miles' voice warning her to pay attention inside her head more than a few times, but she couldn't help it-she was excited to go back to the warehouse and get started on her work, despite the oxymoron that it was.

Ariadne walked through the streets with a small spring in her step, despite the pouring rain and thunder that growled around her. The weather that day had been very dreary, storms raging over Paris continuously. Ariadne herself had barely seen the sun that day, only catching a glimpse of it before she left her apartment for her first lecture in the morning. And despite the civilians that trudged around her, she did not let the weather affect her mood today.

Arriving at the warehouse, Ariadne made for the door, only to find the knob buckle as she attempted to turn it. Trying again, she tried to push against the door as well, only to find it stay in place. She grinned to herself. The place was locked this time. She knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, Arthur's face appeared behind the door with the same appearance. His cool and calm expressions glazed over his face as he grinned. "Hey," he said coolly, hair gelled back the same way.

"I see you decided to lock the door this time," Ariadne remarked, smiling back as she walked in.

"I figured it would do better with security purposes," Arthur said, closing the door behind her.

"Good choice," she retorted. She glanced around at the warehouse. So far the only desk that looked to have held any sort of inhabitance was Arthur's-a large table that had multiple papers and folders laid across it in some sort of organized fashion. It had to be organized-it was Arthur she was talking about. "Where is everyone? I thought you said Cobb was arriving with the rest of the team today."

"The flight was canceled," Arthur said, glancing out the window. "Too many thunderstorms around here, so they're stuck in some layover."

"When will they be back?"

Arthur shrugged. "Sometime tomorrow, I'm sure. Pick any table to work at," he said, seeing Ariadne blankly stand in the center of the room. Hearing this, she walked to the table opposite of Arthur's, though they were yards apart. She set her backpack on the table, a large thud hitting the top. "What's in that bag?" He asked curiously, walking over to his table.

"Books and notes," she sighed. "I had two lectures this morning, so my bag is packed."

"I can tell," he said.

Ariadne looked down at her table, rubbing her hands together, ready to get to work, when suddenly, it occurred to her: "Wait," she said, turning to Arthur. "If they aren't getting back today, what am I supposed to do today?"

"Well did you happen to think of any possible designs for the levels?"

"A couple, but I'm not sure how they'd work out," she said, looking down at a folder of notes with minimal confidence. Within seconds, she felt Arthur by her side, Ariadne taking in his cologne scent that, again, gently wafted around him. She felt her heart quicken a little.

"Let's take a look," he said.

"I'm not sure about that…" she said, stealing a glance at him, his eyes drifting from the folder to her.

She looked into his brown eyes, steadily gazing at her. "One look," he said, a tinge of, what Ariadne had to admit, sexy melting into his words. She watched him as his face drifted towards her a few inches.

Ariadne decided that this was an unfair battle, but that she was fairly impressed. On concrete, Arthur seemed like a regular, good looking business man; a professional guy, unaware that his appearance gives him easy control over women everywhere. The guy that thinks that the waitress who gave him his drink for free was because she was just a genuinely nice woman, not because she wanted a chance to be in bed with him. But Ariadne had just discovered that he knew he had some sort of control over the opposite sex. Even worse, he knew how to use it.

Ariadne sighed setting the folder on the table. Opening the folder, she felt her heartbeat quicken even more. Was it because he was so close to her? Was it because he had practically melted her only a few seconds before? Or was it just because it was the first time her work was going to be judged? Ariadne decided that all three reasons would be credited to her heart's faster beating pace, though knowing that Arthur was getting a look at work did make her want to hide. What if he hated it?

She watched him as his eyes scanned over the scribbles and drawings, carefully nodding, and raising an eyebrow every now and then.

"These are pretty good," he muttered, flipping papers over, eyes scanning each page.

Ariadne smiled in spite of herself. "Thanks," she said, her gaze lingering over him.

He must have felt this, looking up at her, holding her gaze, a small grin appearing on his lips. Feeling her heart beginning to pound a little bit louder than normal again, Ariadne instinctively dropped her gaze back to her papers. "There are still a few things I need to touch up," she said, feeling his eyes still on her. There are some loose ends on the second and third level that I need to connect, and I need to establish a quick easy route that accesses all the key points in the maze."

"Yeah, that should be fine," he said, a few seconds ticking by, his voice back in a normal tone. "Good work." Daring herself to look back at him, Ariadne watched him step away to his desk, noticing a smile lingering on his lips as he turned.

Collecting her papers into a neat pile, Ariadne shook her head, grinning as one thought rolled through her head. _'That bastard knows he's sexy.' _

**Arthur **

He had to admit it; the new architect attracted his eye.

This, he was not used to. In Arthur's mind, the gender of his associate never really distracted him. This was mostly due to the fact that 90% of the people that he and Cobb had worked with were all men. Sure, there were the occasional female chemists and architects, but Arthur was never attracted to any of them.

Were they attracted to him? Sure. There was the occasional offer of a drink or two, but he always kindly turned down the offer. He made it clear: business was business. He was not the kind to get business mixed with pleasure-that would only lead to complications. And whenever he felt even the least bit tempted by the attractive, young associate, he imagined Mol and Cobb. He remembered how they had all been on the same team for one job, how they fell for one another-he remembers it clearly each time. And each time, it had been enough to persuade him to back off-focus on business.

Yet there sat Ariadne, innocently attracting his attention bit by bit. The young architect had been hired by Cobb only a few days ago, and she already had him intrigued. She was a college student, quite attractive to say the least. She was smart, and more importantly, she seemed just as fascinated by dreaming as he was. There was just something about her that he was attracted to. He wasn't sure what it was, and what bothered him the most was that he didn't know if he'd be able to find out.

Like he said, business was business. Any other emotions were to be saved for either a later time, or if ever, were not to be saved at all.

He had slipped up only minutes earlier, as he convinced her to let her show him her notes for the mazes. So, smoothly, he let up a little bit; losing a bit of his strict composure and allowing himself to take a few more glances at her, and allowing himself to take a deeper look at her eyes. Then, as soon as she had let up, he instantly regained his composure once more.

Arthur looked up from his papers, a few minutes after he had settled back in his desk. He smiled when he saw Ariadne shaking her head, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards. '_She's figured it out, already,'_ he decided, turning back to his papers. She just continued to impress him more and more each day. _'Focus'_ he thought to himself.

Fischer. Job. Fischer and the job. He glanced at the folders in front of him. He didn't know how he had managed to compile all of Robert Fischer's information into neat folders in such a short amount of time, but there all the information sat, readily awaiting Cobb and the team. Cobb had gone to Mombasa to find Eames. Arthur frowned.

It wasn't that he had huge distaste for the Brit-Eames was one of, if not, the best at thieving and forging. It was just that he annoyed the hell out of him sometimes. Eames encourage imaginative, creative thinking. And Arthur was fine with that, imagination for the better. But for his job, being the point man, imagination wasn't part of the plan. His job involved direct facts that were 100% right. It was his job to figure their target and make sure everyone knew them like the back of their hand-having someone constantly annoy him because of his lack of creative thinking was only a hassle.

And if that weren't enough, Eames didn't have the same 'business was not to be mixed with pleasure' philosophy that Arthur kept in tact. No, Eames decided that having fun was having fun, whether or not it dealt with his job, he didn't care. Eames welcomed pleasure in any environment it presented itself in and Arthur foundt it was extremely unprofessional. But as his thoughts lingered back to Ariadne, he couldn't help but feel like a hypocrite.

They worked in silence for awhile, Arthur making sure that he had gotten everything that they needed, and Ariadne figuring out the kinks in the few thoughts she had written down. But even so, barely any time had passed. Arthur frowned again, looking at his watch. Only half an hour had gone by and he had planned to stay there the whole afternoon, even throughout the night. It was nearly impossible for him to go anywhere with the information he had collected considering that Cobb had the rest of the team with him.

Hearing his stomach beginning to grumble, he decided to take a small lunch break.

"Going home already?" Ariadne asked as Arthur began to collect his jacket.

"No," he said bluntly. "Lunch break."

"Oh, alright," she said, looking back at her papers. As if right on queue, Arthur's ears picked up a faint grumble coming from her direction. Subtly, Ariadne set her hand on her stomach and frowned, as if scolding herself. Looking up, she blushed. "Sorry."

Arthur chuckled. "No, its fine."

She nodded and went back to her work. With this, Arthur began towards the door, slinging his jacket over his shoulders before he stopped. Having lunch out wouldn't be a crime. She had practically told him that she was in need of lunch herself, what kind of asshole would he be to ignore it? He had to be a gentleman.

"Would you like to go out for lunch?" He asked, stopping before the door, and turning to look at Ariadne.

"I'm sorry?" She asked, as if she had just been woken from a daze.

"Do you want to go to lunch?" He repeated, oh so casually. Arthur had his composure down.

She looked like if she had been caught off guard, which Arthur felt briefly worried about. But the feeling passed just as fast as it had come. This was merely a friendly outreach, there was nothing romantic about a lunch date. In order for her to think that this was nothing, he had to give off the illusion that it was nothing.

"I just figured…" He said, referring to the grumble he had heard a few seconds before.

"Oh," she said, the look of surprise beginning to fade from her expression. "Sure." She shrugged, setting her papers on the desk. Collecting her red jacket, he held the door open for her, a smile on his face.

The rain had calmed down a bit as Arthur took a seat in his black Porsche. He bought the car only last week, as a reward for completing his most recent job with Cobb. He hoped that it wouldn't be too much, and as he glanced at Ariadne, he saw that she was impressed rather than turned off. He allowed himself to relax.

"Fancy car," she said, putting on her seat belt.

"Thanks," Arthur said, as the car roared to life. "It's a little reward from my last job." Eyes on the road, he kept his cool.

"Nice," she said, impressed. "Do you always get this much money from each job?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It's a high priced business. You'd be surprised by how much money people are willing to spend on it."

"I guess that's something I just don't understand, though," she said, suddenly. Arthur glanced at Ariadne to find her looking out the window, like she was deep in thought all of a sudden. "I don't understand how someone could be so desperate to know something, that they'd want to invade their personal mind."

"It's the business world," Arthur shrugged. Arriving at a stoplight, he watched her consider this.

"I guess. I just figured that exploring peoples minds could be used for something more… benefiting."

"It benefits the people who get the idea."

"I meant benefit universally. That way people could learn more about peoples' minds, physiological advancements. That kind of thing."

As the light turned green, Arthur stepped on the gas. "It used to be used for that before."

"What do you mean?"

"That's how inception started," Arthur explained. "Psycologists used it to explore their most impossible patients' minds as a way of seeing what was really going on in their head. It was only known to a few, selected scientists."

"Why?"

"They had their own little secret," he said, glancing at Ariadne. "They could finally figure out what was wrong with these people who doctors had given up on. They didn't want the rest of the world to figure out their secret. It would take away the exclusivity of it all."

"How did the business world get wind of it then?"

"You know how it is with people and secrets," Arthur shrugged. "Someone decided that they couldn't hold their tongue and it slipped out, I guess. Anyway, most people in the business world have never heard of inception. It's a total underground business that only so many people know about."

"And we're the kind of people who perform it," Ariadne nodded.

"Exacltly," Arthur said, turning into a small parking lot in front of a small, French café; _Belle Matin_. It was petite, but classy, the kind of place that suited Arthur perfectly. It was the kind of place that subtly hinted that it was a little bit classier than your average café. It didn't stick out like a sore thumb, you had to take a closer look at it to notice a small difference between it and the other cafes on the street. "Here we are," he said

"You know, Cobb told me you were the best at your job," Ariadne said as she opened the door, her eyes scanning over the restaurant.

"He did," Arthur said, flattered. He and Cobb had the highest respect for each other. "Well, Cobb is the best extractor out there." He stepped out of the car, closing the door softly behind him as he and Ariadne met at the front of the car.

"So the two people who are best at their jobs are partners," she confirmed.

Arthur nodded. "We're one of the best out there."

"Don't be too modest."

Arthur grinned. "The average level of team success when it comes to stealing dreams is about 75%. With Cobb and I, our average success rate is 90%."

"Sounds like you guys make a great team," Ariadne said as Arthur's car made two, loud beeps in response to Arthur's clicking on his keys.

"We try," he said.

Ariadne smiled. "So what is this place?"

"_Belle Matin_."

She raised an eyebrow.

"A beautiful morning."

"French? Fancy."

"It's a nice place," Arthur said as he opened the door to the small French café. Instantly, they were met by cool air, and the fresh smell of crepes and coffee wafted around them. Men and women in black and white uniforms hustled around them to their respected tables, the lunch rush just beginning.

"_Bonjour monsieur_," greeted a small woman with hazel eyes and black hair.

"_Bonjour_," Arthur nodded. "_Je voudrais un table pour deux, s'il vous plait_."

"Un moment," she said, picking up two menus. "This way."

The woman led Arthur and Ariadne to a small table next to a window towards the front of the restaurant.

"_Merci,"_ Ariadne said, taking a seat across from Arthur, who had kindly said thank you as well. She turned to Arthur. "You speak French?"

"A little," he said. "I took it in high school."

He watched as a glance of surprise crept onto her face. "What?" he said.

Ariadne shrugged. "Nothing. Its just a little hard to picture you as a student."

Arthur grinned, looking down at his menu. At the time, he had figured that learning French would be a good investment of his time. Whether or not he would be good at learning and speaking it was a different story; but he figured it would benefit him in the long run. He had planned to learn abroad and go to Europe for business. It turned out that he was good at the language, the words and fluorescent r's rolling off his tongue like it was no big deal.

But that was a long time ago. Arthur hadn't spoken French since. In fact, this was the first time he'd been in Paris in awhile. Being back in town and speaking the language was like waking up a small part of him that had been dormant for quite the amount of time.

"Bonjour," suddenly greeted a young woman, who looked to be in college herself. Her light brown hair was tied back in a bun, a small braid lining a small portion of her hairline. "Je m'appelle Courtney et je serai… Ariadne!" Her green eyes lit up as she peered down at Ariadne, eyes wide.

Ariadne, who looked to be deciphering a few words, looked up from the menu. Her eyes widened. "C-Courtney?" She stammered, glancing from Arthur to Courtney. "You work here?"

The girl named Courtney nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I started last week!"

"That's great, you finally found a job."

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a job that is even remotely interesting," she said, rolling her eyes.

Arthur suppressed a chuckle as he glanced at Ariadne, a smile on his lips.

"Yes, very hard," Ariadne grinned, looking at Arthur.

Courtney followed Ariadne's gaze, seeming to remember that her friend was with a guest. Abrupt, Courtney's ongoing enthusiasm with meeting her friend stopped, as she turned to Arthur.

"I-I'm sorry," she said, embarrassed. "Really sorry."

"Its fine," Arthur said, giving her a passing wave.

Seeming hesistant, Ariadne introduced them. "Arthur, this is my friend, Courtney. Courtney, this is my..." Arthur watched as Ariadne quickly mulled over the statement. Her response was tricky. If Ariadne told her that he was her co-worker, they would most likely have to explain their line of work. And even though Arthur could string a line of lies in a breeze, it was best they not even touch the subject. If Ariadne were to tell her friend that he was her friend, it would possibly imply something that wasn't true. Or maybe it was true. It was hard to tell what kind of relationship you had with people in this business, since everything was always strictly professional. "This is my friend, Arthur."

"Hello, Arthur," Courtney said, nodding towards him with a flamboyant smile.

"Hi," Arthur said, flashing her a kind grin.

"Your friend?"

"Yes, I have friends," Ariadne said.

Courtney seemed to mull this statement over a bit. "Alright," she said. "Can I get you guys something to drink?"

"Water," they both said.

"All right, one second," Courtney said, turning on her heel.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked, a frown appearing on Ariande's face.

"Nothing, its nothing," she muttered.

He raised an eyebrow. Surely, she did not think he was stupid enough to believe her. As she looked up from her menu, she noticed the look he was giving her. She shifted uneasily in her chair. "So, Cobb."

"Cobb?" he asked.

"Yes, Cobb and Mal."

"What about them?"

"Does she always burst through his subconscious?"

Arthur shrugged. "A lot of the times she does. She's gotten us into a lot of trouble in the past few jobs."

"And you're not going to do anything about it?"

He shook his head. "Look, Cobb's problems with Mal are beyond anyone's control. The only person who can change it, is Cobb himself."

"But aren't you worried that she's just going to screw up a job?"

Arthur considered this. Mal was very much capable of doing that. "I guess."

"You guess? That's it?"

He nodded. "Look, I know its hard to understand but his problems are his problems."

"And you're not even going to attempt to fix it?"

"What can I do? I'm pretty sure that going into Cobb's subconscious and killing her myself won't solve any problems. For some reason, Cobb's subconscious wants her there."

"Yeah, but you can't just let her roam-"

"In this business, there are only so many things that remain private," Arthur said, his voice loosing twice its volume and his eyes growing very serious. "We're talking dreams, here. Dreams are these fluid things that hold what exactly is in our mind without our mind actually controlling it. When we do shared dreaming, no one knows what you can find in someone's mind. Whether we like it or not, its very hard to remain secretive when it comes to the actual team portion of things. Cobb and I have been working together for years-I know the guy like the back of my hand. But there are just some things that we have to keep to ourselves, just for the sense of privacy. And look, I know he has problems with Mal. But when it comes to jobs, especially like the one we're doing, sometimes you have to ignore the emotional baggage that you carry, strive through it, do what you need to, and get it done. We don't have time to explore every living aspect of ourselves, and a lot of us don't want to." Arthur knew that he was beginning to ramble, but he couldn't help it. The words fell of his tongue so easily, rolling away like he had thought of this a million times before. He watched as her features remained calm, and understanding. He glanced down at his menu when she stayed silent.

"By a lot of us, do you mean yourself?" Ariadne said suddenly, closing her menu and setting her menu on the table. She looked at Arthur.

Taken aback by her sudden response, Arthur was sure that it surely showed on his face.

"Two waters," chimed Courtney, as she set two, cold glasses of water on the table.

"Thank you," Arthur said, not breaking his gaze with Ariadne. Her eyes were a light color of brown, he noticed. Her skin was fair, and she wore little makeup-a smidgen of eyeliner.

"Are you guys ready to order?" Courtney asked.

"Yeah, we are," Arthur muttered, forcing himself to look away.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you for the reviews again, guys(: _

_Inception does not belong to me in any way, shape, or form. _

_Have a great day! _

_Sunshine. _

**Chapter Four:Ariadne **

"_Curiosity killed the cat"_ was a saying that Ariadne could always relate to. She wasn't Harriet the Spy or any kind of Harry Potter who snooped everywhere, but she kind of asked questions out of genuine curiosity, sometimes just to say it. It got her in trouble with people as she grew up, people always yelling at her that it was none of her business or giving her weird looks since she had asked such private questions when she had only just learned their names. But Ariadne always felt that they set her up. They knew that they wanted to be asked something so that they could ramble on and on about—Ariadne only felt that she would give them the service and ask.

For some reason, she'd already done this a couple times with people in this new inception job, and whether or not they liked it, she wasn't sure. When she first asked Cobb about why he needed her to build the dreams, he had grabbed her arm in a vice grip. Yet, when she asked Arthur about his philosophy on privacy, he only seemed to be taken off guard, maybe even impressed. All Ariadne knew, was that the men she was working with weren't the tad least simple. The speculation of what the men on the team would be like only worried her, to say the least-Although, Ariadne had barely thought of Cobb or his recruitment of the other team members lately.

Instead, as she walked into her dorm room, and collapsed on top of her bed, she found herself in a slight daze. This, she credited to Arthur.

The lunch had gone smoothly, in Ariadne's opinion. She could feel tension rising when Arthur explained his philosophy on privacy when it came to the job. It was evident that whatever happened in his past is the reason why he is the man he is today, but it was increasingly evident that he'd rather not talk about it. The way that his chocolate brown eyes looked at her after he explained it all confirmed this theory.

But thankfully, Courtney, her neighbor in the dorms, was there to break the tension. Her arrival with drinks was like a pair of scissors cutting a tight piece of string and just like that, Arthur assumed his regular cool composure and began talking to her. After that, Ariadne figured it would be best if they no longer encroach on any "deep" topics for the rest of the lunch.

After she served the drinks, they remained quiet for awhile; the kind of comfortable silence that Ariadne could relax in as she looked out the window and saw various cars pass by.

"I love these kinds of cafes," Arthur said, breaking the silence. "They're small, and comfortable, but still has class."

Ariadne looked around at the small café. It had a comfy classy sort of feel to it-there were couches sitting around a small fireplace, a small stage next to them that, Ariadne guessed, would be where live entertainment would sit. All employees dressed in black, and all of them looked to be right on top of their game, creating the feel that everything was relaxed. It wasn't tight-there was just enough room so that all the tables had their own kind of personal space. The aroma of warm pastries wafted in the café with the scent of warm coffee being served even though it was lunchtime. It was like a warm home.

Their clientel, however, differed. People in business suits sat, sipping their cups, and digging into their meals. Many men wore suits with shoes so polished, they practically glowed, while many women wore pencil skirts and pant suits, all hair pull back away from their face. Some looked to be in a serious business deal, while others just wanted to enjoy a good lunch.

"Yeah, I can see that," Ariadne said, as she finished looking around the room. "Do they usually have a band, or is that for show?" She looked towards the empty stage.

"They usually have a band there," Arthur nodded. "But only at night."

"Are they any good?"

"I've heard they are."

"You've never heard them? I thought you liked this café."

Arthur shrugged. "I've never been here at night."

"Too many late nights?"

"I admit, it can't be too good for my health," Arthur laughed.

"Tell me about it." Ariadne sighed, reminiscing through the long nights she'd had because of her workload.

"College can't be that bad."

Ariadne shrugged. "I guess. Miles is a great professor, but one professor can only make up for the others for so long."

"I do hear that he's damn good."

"He is. But he's been lecturing me a lot, lately."

"You've been distracted." Arthur smiled, as if he'd already known this.

"Lucky guess."

"I was the same way. Professors got so frustrated with me," he chuckled.

"You weren't nearly as bad as I am."

"What makes you say that?"

"I started writing notes on the levels during a lecture instead of the ones on the board."

"I researched during my lectures."

"About the target?"

Arthur shook his head. "About using reverse psychology, that kind of stuff."

"You need to know about reverse psychology to be a point man?'

"I didn't start out as a point man," Arthur said simply.

An alarm went off in Ariadne's mind telling her that they were straying to another past-related topic. Her curiosity told her to press on and see where the conversation would go, her brain telling her to be smart and change the topic.

"Hm," Ariadne said, the only phrase that she could effectively muster to make a transition seem less awkward. "One question."

"Shoot."

"Is this really the only way you get money? It can't be substantial or reliable."

"It's not," Arthur said, as if this were obvious. He looked out the window at his new Porsche as it sat in the parking lot, new and shiny. "Hell no, its not."

"Then how do you pay for everything else?"

"What do you mean everything else?"

"Food, water-clothes. There's got to be some way you can afford all your expensive suits."

Arthur grinned. "They're not _that_ expensive."

"Come on. You've been wearing three piece suits every day since I started working."

"I've worn a jacket a couple times."

"Jeans?"

Arthur shook his head as if him wearing jeans would be a monstrosity. "No."

"Your wardrobe must be expensive."

"I guess it can be."

"Then where do you get the money?"

"When you get the work done, this career has huge pay."

"Not big enough to pay for things on a day to day basis. Especially not while waiting for another job to roll along."

"True," Arthur nodded. "I take odd jobs every now and then. Business and marketing firms, mostly."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The pay sucks, but it takes care of the debts."

"You have debt?"

"I have a home, Ariadne," he chuckled. "I don't just travel from hotel to hotel. I do have a mortgage."

For some reason, this seemed impossible to Ariadne. Arthur? Having a stable home where he returned after his business? Somehow his exclusivity and elusiveness she'd heard of in other jobs didn't seem to fit the description of having one home.

"But you don't stay in it long?"

"Most of the time. When I don't get any job offers, I go back home. Every couple of years, I move to a different place; just so that it isn't_ that_ easy to find me."

"Who would go looking for you?"

"Anyone who thinks I might be linked to a job. Its difficult to have a stable life, jumping from job to job in different places, then having to jump to another location that was irrelevant to the job."

"Why would you have to jump to a place that was irrelevant to the job?"

"Just so that things might not look suspicious. That's a rule by the way-After a job has been performed, there can be no contact with anyone on the team or any place that we can be associated for two weeks."

"Two weeks?"

"Two weeks minimum. That way, no one can link us to anything."

"Smart rule."

"It's a standard. People remember the dream clearly, that's how they know and feel like they've been sort of… invaded. If they see us all together days after the dreams happen, they'll feel a connection, whether they can make sense of it or not."

"That makes sense."

"Everything has to make sense."

"Or else…"

"Things get out of control."

"Is that what happened with Cobb? He couldn't make sense of why Mol was always in his dream and now…"

"Now its our anyone's hands except Cobb? Who can't even begin to fix it because its his dead wife? Yeah, I'd say that's what happened." His face turned stony for a moment, a thin line of disapproval forming on his lips again.

"Here are your orders!" Courtney chimed again, with her impeccable timing.

"Thank you," Arthur said, the thin line fading as quickly as it had come, a charming smile taking its place.

They talked more, this time a more lighthearted conversation where she found themselves laughing more. She no longer encroached on any topics that might lead to any serious conversation-she didn't want her time with Arthur to always revolve around a lesson on inception. Grant it, it was hard to do with a man who was so serious about the job, and practically had a life revolving around the business. But Ariadne figured that stealing and planting weren't the only things in his life.

He dropped her at her dorm an hour later, insisting he not walk her to her door. The rain had picked up a bit, and she explained that she didn't want to be a bother on him or him expensive suit. At this he smiled, before closing the door. In truth, though, Ariadne didn't want him to come down because she wasn't ready to take on the weird looks she would receive from the girls in her dorm; no, she wasn't ready for any of the questioning and investigation that would surface around her if he were to step out of his car for even one second.

Ariadne turned onto her stomach and glanced out the window. The sky was still dark, the rain still pouring and showing no signs of letting up. The wind had calmed a bit, but the day still looked a bit dreary. Yet, Ariadne smiled to herself, feeling like it was springtime around her.

"Bonjour, Ariadne!" Courtney burst through the open dorm door, still in her work uniform. Her hair was down, ragged from a day's work. Her smile look misccheviously at Ariadne, who felt panic in why Courtney had just arrived.

Ariadne glanced at her roommate, Molly, who had just shuffled a deck of cards. In act of procrastination, she had been preparing a deck of cards for a game of speed. Normally, Ariadne would be neck deep in books, trying to get ahead, or in this case-catch up, but today, she found herself relaxed, and willing to procrastinate just a little.

"Hey…" Molly said, not knowing why Courtney was so enthusiastic. Ariadne hadn't told Molly about going to lunch with Arthur-why should she? She hadn't planned to tell anyone. But then again, Courtney happened to be working there now.

"Hi," Ariadne said, quietly.

"How was the rest of your lunch with Arthur?"

"Arthur?" Molly gasped, turning to Ariadne. "Who the hell is Arthur?"

"No one," Ariadne muttered, laying four cards in front of her. "You ready to start?"

"I'm not starting until you tell me who Arthur is!" Molly demanded.

"She had lunch with him," Courtney said. Ariadne flashed her a small glare.

"He's just a friend."

"Bullshit! You guys were there for like, two hours!"

"Is that so unusual?"

"Its not usual that you guys were still there an hour after I picked up your plates!"

"Wow, Courtney; you really kept tabs on me," Ariadne muttered. She looked up at Molly. "Ready yet?"

"Not until I hear about him," Molly shrugged.

"Its not everyday I see you out with a guy!" Courtney yelled, excitement still played across her face.

"You're getting a little loud, someone in the hallway might hear you." Molly said, nodding towards the door.

"What makes you think people would freak out?" Ariadne asked. "Just because Courtney freaked out doesn't mean that everyone else will."

"They will when they hear that he's an older guy," Courtney said, closing the door.

"An older guy! What!"

"Mhm," Courtney nodded.

Ariadne rolled her eyes. None of this was improving or going in the direction she wanted it to go. "Fine," she sighed. "But I swear, if anyone else hears about this…"

"No one will," Molly said. "Will they, Courtney."

Courtney nodded. "Of course!" She collapsed onto Molly's bed and played her head on her hands.

Ariadne sighed once more. She couldn't believe she was doing this. "His name his Arthur, and he's not completely old-Just _older._ It wasn't a date. We're friends."

"Sure…"

Ariadne glared.

"You were throwing your head back and laughing like there was no tomorrow," Courtney muttered.

"Anyway," Molly said, cutting in, giving a look to Courtney as well.

"It was just lunch time and he treated me to lunch. No big deal. We sat, we ate, and so what if we talked a little while."

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Looks like you guys were having a "jolly good time" to me."

"What did you guys talk about?"

Ariadne started to speak, then stopped. A lot of what they had talked about dealt, or was somewhat related to the job. She couldn't just spit it out to them that she had also been employed in a job that was just a tad bit illegal, and which had been kept under wraps for the longest amount of time.

"Just stuff," she muttered, beginning to toy with her scarf.

Molly lifted an eyebrow. "Okay… He a nice guy?"

"He seemed pretty charming when I was serving you guys," Courtney said.

Ariadne smiled to herself. Of course Arthur was charming, it was Arthur, after all.


End file.
